Clerk to Governors

Gail Mallard 

Attendance - September 2018 to July 2019

Previous Governors

Introduction

A school's Board of Governors is there to provide oversight of the management and operation of the school. The governors help the school take a strategic view of its activities and bring experience and expertise from other walks of life into the school. This section will tell you who the governors are, how they are appointed and elected, what they do, what their legal duties are and how you can contact them or seek to get involved as a governor yourself.

What does the Board of Governors do?

The Board of Governors does not run the school. That is the job of the Headteacher and the leadership team.  Rather, the governors provide independent oversight of the school and how it is run. The school is required to report to the governors on various aspects of management and planning and, by acting as 'critical friends', the governors can give the school an invaluable sounding board.

Some aspects of the governors' role in the school are laid down by law. For example, the governors are required to approve the school budget. Also, if the school decides to exclude a pupil permanently that decision has to be reviewed by an independent panel of governors.

Major strategic decisions of the school also have to be approved by the governors. A recent example at St Andrew’s has been the decision to:

• investigate multi-academy trust partnerships 

What sort of people are the governors?

The governors are all volunteers and the role is part-time. Most of them have full-time jobs elsewhere. One of the major benefits of the Board of Governors is that the governors are all able to bring experience and expertise from vastly different walks of life to bear on their work with the school. This can help the school take a more creative and strategic approach to management, problem-solving and long-term strategic planning.   

The current board includes governors with experience in education, policy analysis, human resources, diplomacy, health and safety, management, information technology, financial services and business systems.

According to a Government publication, more people in the UK today come forward to be school governors than for any other volunteer activity.

How are the governors elected or appointed?

There are a number of different routes onto the Board of Governors. At St Andrew’s the board is made up of:

• Eight Foundation governors: appointed by Diocese;
• One Staff governor: elected by the staff;
• Two Parent governors: elected by the parents;
• One Local Authority governor: appointed by the Board of Governors;
• One co-opted governor: appointed by the Board of Governors;
• The Headteacher: appointed by the Board of Governors

All governors (except the headteacher, whose position is ex officio) serve a four-year term, at the end of which they may stand for re-election or re-appointment.  There is no limit to the number of terms a governor may serve. When a parent governor’s term ends, an announcement is made about an election and all parents or carers of pupils at the school are eligible to stand.

The chair and vice-chair of Governors are elected by the full Board of Governors at its first meeting of each school year. The current chair of governors is Reverend Joe Dent. The current vice-chair is Zoe Masters. The clerk to governors is Miss Gail Mallard. Governors can be contacted by email or in writing via the school admin office.

How is the work of the governors organised?

The full Board of Governors meets nine times in each academic year. Each meeting covers the content agreed in the Governors Management Plan.

Governors also attend Governor Days at the school three times a year and training provided by the Governor Development Team (PCC) and the Diocese.

Minutes of the Full Board of Governor meetings are made available once they have been approved.